The nation’s first astronaut Yi Soyeon will promote the International Aerospace Conference (IAC) in Daejeon while in space.

During her eight-day stay from Thursday at the International Space Station, Yi will transmit a global message on behalf of the conference. The video message will say, "From the center of Korea, the science city Daejeon invites you to the International Aerospace Conference in October 2009.”

The conference will open in Daejeon on October 12th next year. Some three-thousand scientists and experts from over 30 countries will take part in the five-day event.

Biosystems engineer Yi Soyeon will blast off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonour Space Center at 8:16 p.m., Korean time Tuesday. She will be carried into space by the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-12 and arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday. Yi will conduct 18 science experiments at the station before returning to Earth on April 19th.